Israeli authorities have issued an order banning Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and performing prayers there for six months, a move observers describe as part of a series of repeated violations against him.
اضافة اعلان
In a statement issued by the Supreme Islamic Council it said: “The Israeli occupation issued a decision banning Sheikh Ikrima Sabri from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and praying there for six months; this decision is an extension of a series of decisions and violations against Sheikh Sabri.”
The council added that the measures taken against the sheikh and the sermons at Al-Aqsa represent “a serious and unacceptable transgression,” stressing that: “The Supreme Islamic Council condemns these unjust decisions against Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, who represents the Islamic reference in Palestine.”
The council warned of the gravity of the step at both religious and political levels, saying the responsibility to confront it lies with the Arab and Islamic worlds. It urged religious bodies and institutions to act to stop these violations against religious scholars in Palestine and to provide the legal protections afforded by international law for clerics.
The council said that “the attack on scholars is part of stoking the religious war sought by the extremist government.”
Separately, Sheikh Sabri’s defense committee confirmed that the persecution continues and that violations against him have not ceased despite his high religious status in the Islamic world. The committee said: “The Israeli government singles out Sheikh Sabri without genuine international support, and despite official condemnations from Islamic parties, threats and violations continue.”
The committee revealed an escalation in media incitement against him, adding: “Incitement is increasingly out of control; most recently extreme media figures openly called on Israeli security not to interrogate or question Sheikh Sabri but rather to liquidate and kill him.”
It described those calls as “a police cover-up, a breach of all laws, and an egregious rights violation.”
The defense committee concluded by emphasizing: “Sheikh Sabri is a major Islamic religious authority who has served in his role for more than 50 years and must not be held accountable for carrying out his religious duties.”
